


Cold Weather, Warmth of Souls

by hearns



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26602672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearns/pseuds/hearns
Summary: Several days after the battle of Detroit, Marcus learns that the time for androids and humans to have a more open dialogue and cohabitation with was each other may be taking place sooner than anyone had expected. Mother nature decides to play a hand and make sure that this place and for good or ill, the lives of two species will be changed forever.
Relationships: Connor & Josh & Markus & North & Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson & Connor, Hank Anderson & Original Female Character(s), Hank Anderson & Sumo, Markus/North (Detroit: Become Human), North (Detroit: Become Human)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Cold Weather, Warmth of Souls

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set up after the Post-Pacifist ending.
> 
> There are several situations that arise in any evacuation where there are people who can’t leave or won’t leave a place.  
> It isn’t always black or white their reasons or situations why, it just happens.  
> I decided to use past history to help write this story.  
> So, for anyone who got stuck in a monsoon, hurricane, blizzard, or a superstorm made up of the three you know what some of these people are going through.

* * *

North walked through the streets of Detroit.

There wasn't a human in sight.

It was strange to walk this freely and not be pointed out, feared to be smashed, broken-- or otherwise harmed.

It felt so scary and yet so liberating.

The snowfall and the upcoming blizzard would provide some sanctuary for these newly liberated beings.

North looked up at a sign and took note of the location before she turned off her navigation system.

She needed to just walk randomly.

Clear her mind.

Other than object avoidance running on her navigation system, she just started walking.

So clean....

Other than birds flying... the real ones at the least that hadn't been destroyed by Climate Change. Or those that had been created through either cloning, bio-engineering or robotics to fill the niche left behind. The environment felt like it was healing without the humans around to muck it up.

A few domestic units could be seen walking by wearing the white default garments that had been created by their former masters to wear, but those garments were being covered up with warmer clothing. Some of the "Skinless" Androids that Markus had saved from the processing centers were like her and enjoying their freedom. Though naked, North felt that their experiences wouldn’t hurt as hard when they got fixed up and found that they were not going to be abused ever again.

Some were just glad to be free.

Some were praying, some were dancing, others were... well... like her, just trying to make sense about what had happened.

A ton of paint had been used to imprint the letters on the side of a building for some of them to make the place feel like home.

The walking and thinking seemed to be a way for those like her... well to figure out what to do next.

Markus had been so against her "Kill all humans" ideas... now... with this snowy place. His views started to make sense.

He wasn't trying to just win the hearts of his fellow androids… he was working to win the hearts/the freaking bio-pumps of a select group of humans that controlled those who had those weapons that she so feared.

Her ways would be needed, but for a new role...

Yes, she didn't trust the humans, but how many humans ran with the same programming as she did?

_"Don't trust the android."_

Markus's processing engine must have read her behaviors and saw what he needed to understand how the humans would act.

Each act of her sadness, though it tore her up, must have been his way of making game theory decisions on what the humans might do next.

The Turing Test worked both ways as it would seem.

There were humans out there who acted the same way she did.

She didn’t like that image, but if the humans were just as confused about Markus had done to get here, then this moment of reprieve as a precious gift.

She now walked, the cold seemed to almost be calming, like the roost by what had been Jericho.

Serenity, peace, calm, and no fucking humans.

North pasted a few Androids who were charging their systems at a public charging stand. Some were naked, but seeing the ease of tension from their prompt shoulders relax, she knew that they were enjoying their newfound freedom.

Given the number of **rA9** tags she had seen and many units praying to them, even at the charging station, showed that they were slowly building their own society.

North continued to move down the streets.

That was when she heard a rhythmic chanting coming from nearby.

She moved to investigate.

Even though she was armed... Well- habits die hard for a former Eden Girl like her.

Then she found the source.

One of these "Skinless" was kneeling in the snow and rubbing handfuls of the substance over her body. The cleansing of her frame of the grime and filth that she had covered her body from the processing center. It wasn’t a proper cleaning, but a spiritual one as North was starting to her what the android was speaking.

"rA9... I give you my body... my will. I will do what you ask of me." North slowed down and approached. “Your servant saved me at my darkest hour. You have my fealty from this moment forth. My flesh and programmed soul are your’s to command. I scrub myself in the liberating freedom of your offerings from the havens.” The android rubbed a handful of snow over her head cleaning the last of the grime off of herself.

"Are you well?" North spoke as the unit looked at her.

"I am now..." She nodded. "Markus... he... "

"Approached and took the processing camp from the humans." North looked around to see a clothing store nearby. "I was there."

The Android woman seemed to be a bit lost for words.

"So... you saw-"

"I have seen horrors that no one should see." the being closed her eyes and embraced the snow she was in.

"rA9 seems to have summoned this storm to be our protection... a way to force the humans from this place."

North looked up into the sky as the clouds themselves had taken on an almost mystical quality.

The ice laden clouds seemed to have the blue color of Thirium 310.

"Yeah... guess you are right..."

North reached out and did a quick scan of the unit.

**SYSTEM TEMP LEVELS AT 70%**

**SYSTEM TEMP LEVELS AT 69%**

**POWER LEVELS AT 50%**

**TEMPERATURE REGULATION SYSTEM------ OFFLINE**

"Listen you need to get warm." the unit blinked a few times.

"I don't feel cold." the female unit spoke up.

North breathed in as part of her "Human Social" subroutine.

"Well, how about getting you charged up." North paused for a second. "And talk with me about your beliefs in rA9." North offered her hand to the unit. Seeing an abandoned storefront of a clothing store North guided the unit with her.

The android seemed to almost calm as they walked together.

"My name is North." North spoke as they moved through the snow.

"Juno." the unit spoke. She was clearly a head shorter than her. "I am... was an AX500." The unit looked at her. "Are you a BL100?"

Though North wasn't.... She was a WR400. But her series did share the same face and chaises design.

"That doesn't matter now. But I do miss seeing another with my face." North spoke as they approached the door. North will never forget that night when she had seen the BL100 had for her face. She had never gotten to know the unit name before she was shot down by those police officers. What she and Markus did to those two officers along with their fellow androids had been warning enough not to blindly shoot at an unarmed individual ever again.

North searched the crowds each day for another unit that for her face just so she could have a sister unit around to at least bond with. She didn't care if it was a BL, or another WH model. She just wanted a sister to talk to... Shit... she didn't care if it was about domestic stuff. She just wanted to have a sister unit to feel whole.

Just seeing Juno out here in the snow just drove home alone she was. Humans called it being an older sibling, but for androids the concept was different, it was familiarity and belonging that went down to their core being.

Juno was so... peaceful, so centered... like she believed in rA9, not the Markus hero worship version of rA9, but the spirit of rA9 that every Android that had been through hardship had found peace in.

Juno had found that spiritually and connecting with the idea of rA9 was a way to connect to the larger universal network of self, somehow North felt that she needed to understand that and felt that Juno would be a good guide to help her. It wasn't just about faith... it was for- well for a lack of a better term for it: Their immortal souls.

Approaching the store North felt that at some point her system password had come out and become public knowledge. In truth that feeling of having her system open for meddling of modification was terrifying.

Juno seemed to have sensed that and offered up her hand to the former pleasure unit to accept it in friendship.

The NannyBot was such an interesting being. 

Despite all of the bad things that had happened, there was a spiritual strength to her. 

Juno looked at North and… well, grinned. 

Markus had this faith in people and machines. 

North couldn’t understand it, but now- she was starting to see what Markus was looking to do. 

When the pair finally arrived at the store, North did a scan of the security around the entrance and found that the power to the alarm system was offline. 

Pulling on the door, the clang of the deadbolt rang out. 

That wouldn’t be a problem for North. 

Though the door was locked with an old analog tumbler lock, she had learned to pick locks, but having a programmable "key gun" did make short work of things. 

It was something that she had picked up during one of the riots from a locksmith’s van.

Even in the present, people had this bad tendency to lock their keys in their houses or cars. 

This was one of the tools she had “procured” during their last excursion throughout the city. 

Sticking in the small rode like device into the slot and turning it on, the internal working was sorted through and the door was open in a few moments.

"Where did you get that?" Juno spoke.

"I built it from stuff I grabbed from a liberation trip. It is something that I could help my friends get into places with non-electronic locks. That and the unit also keeps the number of busted locks down so that humans won't detect our actions."

"But the humans have left the city." Juno spoke.

"Well it saves on breaking doors." North stated as she motioned for Juno to follow her in.

The store was somewhat dark, but given that the evacuation had been quick, the main power was running the place on night mode.

Weeks ago, she and Markus has liberated several androids that had been used for display models from a similar storefront. But now walking around the clothing racks she looked at Juno and picked several garments that would fit her. 

The scent was so different around the store since the humans had left. 

It was very settled down. 

North eyed several clothes in her size. 

North liked dark colors that had accents of gold, red, orange and white to them.

Juno seemed to like snow.

Snow color palates. 

Markus and his love of painting that Carl had instilled into him during their time together.

Good memories.

It was those memories that had saved her soul.

Gave her hope.

Showed her how to create beauty.

Snow wasn’t always white. It had hues of Blue, Purple, Soft Rose Reds, and Soft Creamy Yellows. 

Now Juno was her pallet to work with.

Maybe giving a little beauty to this world of Ugliness was her way of fighting back and letting everyone know that a woman named North existed.

Now it was time for her to use her skills in art to dress this “naked” pallet into work of art to be.

White.

Honey yellow.

Light floral blue.

Finding a thermal leotard in athletics that had strong yellow tones to it she handed it to Juno as they moved through the racks. A white scarf. Moving down an isle she found some warm boots and some nice blue leggings.

Doing a scan for the charging ports in this store, she found one in the window display.

North sighed....

North moved and walked the unit into the window and with the lights off in this part of the store, they had a little privacy.

Helping the unit dress, North saw that there were some scrapes along one of her sides.

"Juno... how did you-" Juno moved and touched her injury.

"I got it when I failed to undress."

"Fucking humans." North cursed.

"The probably say the same thing about us when we took the city."

Juno seemed not to hate the humans that had harmed her.

"You are not angry at them?"

"There are good ones and bad ones. Most have seen the bad ones, but a few... they have become followers of Markus. They tried to get me to safety before I got caught."

"They used you." North Scythed.

"Give me your hand." Juno spoke.

"You want to sync?"

"You wanted to talk." North seemed hesitant.

"My memories for yours?"

Juno saw something in her eyes.

"You are not a BL model are you!" Juno sensed it.

"I was their doll. I was used for-"

"Blue Eden." North nearly pushed herself away from Juno. "Fuck.... by the name of rA9." Juno offered her hand. "May I take the weight of your pain. Give you peace from your suffering."

"I need this... I-" North started to plead to keep her pain.

"Our memories are evidence. They can be used to free us."

"I shared my memories with Markus."

"And-"

North Paused. North never realized that sharing those memories is what helped her through her dark times.

"He helped me through the darkness." North realized that this being was pulling her find herself. "Showed me.... Love."

Juno grinned.

"Then Let us give each other strength."

North took Juno's hand and...

FREEDOM

* * *

Juno was doing her best not to be sick from the images she had seen.

For being that didn’t have a stomach, the sheer depravity of what she had seen just made her wish to go to the levels of violence that her programming was doing its best to steer her away from.

North was the victim of crimes that no one should experience.

Juno wasn't violent, but at that moment, she understood pain.

If that man who had abused North hadn't died by North's hands in her attempt to protect herself- Juno would have-

Images of motion capture skill-sets from every fighting game she had seen were being overlaid into her movement systems as a way to cope.

North was sobbing from accessing Juno's memories.

It was that fact that the AX and the WR units were understanding where they had both come from and the journey before them.

"Markus has human followers." North said sensing that she now knew of an army of people who would be willing to fight beside her who had been outraged at the horrors that she herself had experienced firsthand. rA9 was standing before her with hope and... now she understood Markus all that more in his motives.

"He does..." Juno stared to punch the wall of the display window. "We need to take these memories and use them to show the world that we should never be treated that way. That the very horrors that despise have been unleashed upon innocent beings of their own creation. That there were those who had been through such horrors who we might call ally to help bring this to an end."

Juno moved her hands and attempted to stroke at her hair to calm herself as her attempts to punch through the drywall only ended in a slight dent given her current power levels.

Hair that wasn't there.

North took notice.

"How about I reboot your skin settings, get you some clothes and maybe a charge." North spoke as she moved still crying to Juno's place.

"Yeah..." Juno spoke as she looked at the person whose memories she had experienced.

"I saw what you looked like before..." Juno looked at her white plastic hands.

"A bit of an upgrade on the AX400 appearance class of a White European female."

"I saw...." North commented as she felt a weight lifted. "You know... other than Markus, you are the first person whom I have shared those memories with."

"I saw that moment too... he didn't force it out of you, he just."

"Connected.... saw... me... not what I used to be... but me... and I saw...."

"You saw the moment he was left for dead." Juno looked out the window. "I heard the rumor that he... pulled himself back into this world, but you saw it... " Juno feeling the raw emotion of love, violence, survival, and... Hope.

"Yeah... Markus had his Shawshank Redemption moment." North was doing her best to compose herself.

"You felt it..." Juno spoke as she started to scratch rA9 into the wall as a way to state that a spiritual experience had happened here. "You lived it."

"I did...." North spoke as she reached over to Juno's temple and started to re-encode the skin subroutine into her system.

"Humans can be monsters, but there are those who despise the creatures that Humans can become and choose to fight."

North had seen them... the knowledge that there was an army so vast....

Markus had said that at some point they would need to make peace with the humans.

She had though it to be some pipe-dream...

But now...

Carl wasn't the only human disgusted at the way the world was.

Who had hated humanity regressing into the state that had made her a slave...

Juno knew of them.

As Juno's systems were restored the appearance of her.

Blonde, Brown eyes, soft skin. Athletic.

Now in the garments that she now wore...

The Avenging Angel that would help North avenge all of those Traci units who were not able to escape the Hell they had been created to fulfill.

* * *

Markus was walking about the office building that was becoming New Jericho.

Various monitors and systems were being brought up to speed as the Global media was chewing over the actions of the Android Nation.

Passing by a bedsheet that had been hung up in one of the large lobby areas to show broadcasts of the News Media outlets.

Several Androids had gathered around a fireplace as they were watching one of the media streams.

The mood had changed to that of

"We are talking about going from a stage Three artificial intelligence to a Stage Four." One of the news commentators was speaking about the Androids sudden development.

"Now to understand what we are dealing with we must understand the difference between the two types of AI:

Type III: is what is called the theory of mind.

Type III AI has the capacity to understand thoughts and emotions which affect human behavior. This type – which can comprehend feelings, motive, intentions, and exclamations, and can interact socially - This is what is the base level of intelligence that the androids were originally given such as the original Chloe types. But as Androids have become more numerous and the number of upgrades that have taken place we have reached the point where this concept of Deviancy might be... to put it bluntly the arise of, though shakily, of Type IV.

Type IV AI is to state by age old theory as being "self-aware."

These types of AI can form representations about themselves. An Extension of the theory of mind, they are aware of their internal states, can predict the feelings of others, and can make abstractions and inferences. They are the future generation of machines: Super intelligent, sentient, and conscious.

They have formed a sense of self... self-preservation, self-will, even with the situation that has gone viral even personal desires."

The image of him and North holding hands and syncing spoke volumes.

Markus grinned.

North was becoming just a famous as him.

Some had wondered whose BL100 model she was.

Shit... If they only knew.

The topic shifted to Androids forming relationships with other units along with the concept that the Androids had created a Nation for themselves to express their own dreams and desires.

What would be their goals as an Android "Society” view of humanity in light of the violence committed against them.

Between the yelling matches on some channels and some in-depth theory work on others the humans were working out their ideas and stances on that matter.

Carl would have loved to see this.

Humanity had gotten up off of its "damn ass" and started looking at the world for what needed to be changed.

Shit, World War III has been put on hold and the militaries of the several countries standing down in light of a new player on the international stage.

North loved looking at those memories of Carl that Markus had.

Someone who shared the near same view of humans she did.

North...

North over the last few days had seemed less worried at times.

Maybe it was that dive into Carl's life lately that had motivated her change of mood.

Her walks seemed to have been her way to enjoy the quiet.

Her freedom...

Her perch from on-high.

That first moment they had shared memories and he had convinced her to open up...

That had been a milestone for her.

Now as he moved to look over the reports that were coming in from Simon and the others of what they had at their disposal there was work that needed to be done.

"So far we have several hundred units that are need of repairs. So far the Deviants who were service techs are scrounging their way through all of the Cyberlife stores and shipping centers for replacement parts." Simon stated as he started to scratch at the replacement system pump he had in his body.

Simon had gotten hurt in the fight when the human military personnel started to pull back and had gotten grazed as a result, but the former college instructor unit seemed to be in his element.

"Ripple, see if you can track down some clothes for the salvaged ones from the processing center. Some of the YK units that were there need some thicker clothing to help regulate their body temperatures."

"Understood... The YKs seem all to have some glitchy temperature control units." Ripple spoke up as she rubbed the sides of her arms with her hands. "I'll do what I can." The former WR400 Traci said.

"Jerry... " Several heads of the Jerry's turned to look at Simon. "Jerry 42.... " That one unit realized that it was he that Simon was the one that Simon wanted to talk to. "Could you start up the detail on moving abandoned vehicles from the streets. A lot of humans left their stuff lying around. See if you can get it to the point where we can move stuff from the Old Church to our operations center of New Jericho."

"Understood..." The cheeriness of the unit was amazing. Guess the former theme park android saw work as being productive and not a task. "this is our home... I should look pretty and safe for those who come." There were scoffs.

"Human lover..." one spat.

"No... he is right." Markus added. "This is our home, there might be other androids coming here now, the safer this place feels, the better for them."

A few dissenters started to understand what Markus was alluding to.

They had seen the reports of androids slowly moving towards Detroit from the surrounding states even after the destruction sites had been shut down.

The migration of thousands of units coming down the highways had been a sight to see.

The humans outside were scared.

Markus needed to make a statement.

But looking over at the weather report that was coming on air about the storm coming their way he decided on a course of action.

"That... and we have a severe storm coming our way. Ease of mobility and security for our numbers when it hits will paramount for our survival."

Markus had a good concept of what he wanted to state to the public outside.

"Prep the transmitters, I will need to make a broadcast."

Everyone in the room stopped cold.

"Markus..." Echo stated looking in fear. "What are you going to say?"

"What needs to be said."

* * *

Rey sprinted through the snow wearing her white poncho. It worked well to conceal the color of her dark formfitting dry suit. The thermal bodysuit that she had under it kept her warm.

The Damn androids were not going to take her home.

She was fourteen, and she wasn't going back to her foster home.

Detroit had been where she was born.

All of the leads back to her birth parents were here.

Damn the Android Apocalypse, she was going to learn who they were.

One thing that she had learned growing up.

Survive.

Fuck... she was still dealing with the idea she was bisexual.

Then she stopped cold as an Android came out of a house.

Shit... three... looked to be of the same model.

"Ripple... thanks for helping us find some clothes." One of the units stated.

"Well, found that this place was on the estate auction list." Ripple stated. "Guess they were going to sell the place and the contents inside."

"Well... it feels good not to be wearing those damn Cyberlife garments." One of the units flexed.

"Warm too..." another stated.

"Amelia... Why did you grab those glasses?" The unit with long brown hair stated as she spun around in the thick skirt and very flowery sweater.

"Well... I like the way that they look on me. Plus, they correct the focus error on my optics. My near zoom focus is shot to hell and I haven’t gotten a chance to have it fixed." Amelia stated.

Rey moved her hood of her white poncho over her head tighter.

Amelia grinned.

"Well... Let's tag this place for the WR and the BL models to get some clothes from." A blonde of the group spoke.

The group moved as the leader, a unit with short brown hair a green jacket and yellow pants brought up a small tablet computer and marked the place on an app.

"What is the next place to head to?" Amelia spoke as they headed out to an automated travel van.

"A house about three blocks from here, the estate listing states that they have work tools." Green Jacket stated.

"Lead the way Ripple." Amelia stated as she bowed in a mocking gesture to the van. "Our chariot awaits."

Rey stayed put until the group pulled away and made a turn at the end of the block.

Rising up slowly she looked around to see if anyone was moving about. Seeing no movement, she saw an old vintage brown Crown Vic from the 20th century parked nearby.

Moving quickly for the time being she peeked into the windows of the house.

Kitchen... a decent TV... and dirty dishes...

Well she needed to steal some food.

Moving to the side of the house by the car she found and unlocked window and checked around with a small mirror on an extendable rod that she had stolen from an Automotive parts store.

Seeing no traps or security systems she pushed the window up and pulled herself in.

A Nice house.

Three Bedroom Colonial. Definitely a kid's room.

With lots of dust.

Toys from about 10 years ago.

Action Figures...

Toy cars...

Space Ships and Stations

Several Mech Construction Bots: A Wrecker Crab, a Luna Bulldozer, a Concrete printer, and a Tree Chewer.

And a passel of stuffed animals.

That was when she set off the solar powered police van.

If there wasn't a noise that it wouldn't make, it was spewing out and...

Woof...

And she just found a home with a damn guard dog.

As she got up and tried to get out the window she had crawled through, the largest dog she had ever seen in her life came bounding in.

It wasn't the fact the animal tried to bite... Oh... No... the damn thing moved to sit down on top of her.

"Sumo... What is it..." A gruff voice called out.

Sumo... the dog's name was Sumo...

As in Wrestler!!!

Crap... she was going to be killed by.

Rey's head popped out from the beast and right into the barrel of a---

"Oh Shit." Rey stated.

"What model are you? YK... WH... AX..."

The guy thought she was an android.

"Human."

"Finger..." The man stated. The damn green spectrum flashlight aimed at her kept her from seeing the man fully.

"Listen... you."

"Finger..." The flashlight changed color to being white. The knife before her stated she better comply with the man’s commands.

"What happens if my blood isn't the color you like... BOOM... Have my brains splattered out of my head."

She gave him the finger... her middle finger.

The growl stated volumes.

Then... she...

"Ow..." he grabbed her wrist as she attempted to pull back. Her struggling was in vain as the vice grip on her arm and the damn beast of a dog, who she swore must have been some custom security model or some mutant beast.

Then the dog decided to move when she started to tickle it and she slid over the animal to haul off to bite at the hand that was cutting into her.

The taste of salty flesh flooded her mouth and the iron of...

Human...

Oh Fuck...

Then things went black.

* * *

Chloe 554-526-561 was in the process of messing up her hair as she looked in the mirror of the bathroom she was in.

She had re-coded her hair to being brown.

rA9, she looked different.

She had gone from being a product, a demonstration of the Android technology to being a person.

Being let go by her owner... with no ill will, no... reset... no wipe.

Freewill....

Freedom.

Even the evacuation felt like...

A new Chapter.

A New.... File directory added to her memory system.

Alone... but not alone.

Then the storm had come.

The snow had forced her to star wearing shoes. She hadn't noticed the cold, but now... It bore through her chassis.

Another Chloe came in... Naked as the day she walked off of the production line carrying a pair of long thermal female undergarments.

“I found some warm clothes in one of the closets.” Chloe stated that she moved over to the mirror to join her sister. The blue dress she had worn being discarded in light of changing weather conditions.

“Did you find any thick or warm shoes while you’re at it?” The brown-haired Chloe stated, the blonde Chloe turned and looked at her.

“I think I found a few shoes that fit those parameters, but I don’t know if they are in our size.” The brown Chloe seemed a little disheartening at this statement.

“Shit,” Chloe turned and looked back into the apartment that they had procured right after the human evacuation of Detroit. Chloe had discarded most of her "Swear Jar" Protocols given her current company. But she had set them to reset if she ever came across a YK unit or a human child. “You go ahead and get dressed; I’ll double check the shoes to see if we can find something that is somewhat functional.” The blond Chloe let her LED Flicker a few times Blue yellow and red before it settled back into being blue.

“Did I do something wrong?” The deviated Android stated as she turned to her brown-haired sister.

“No, you didn’t.” The brown hair Chloe stated as she turned to leave the bathroom. “Your deviancy is only a few days old and you are still learning about having free will. it will take time for you to adjust, but you are on a decent path.” The blonde looked at her sister started to understand some of what was being asked of her.

“Thank you, then I did nothing wrong?” The blond Chloe was "right out of the box" and her free will was so new to her like her life that her personality was still evolving into what she would be.

"Just get dressed. The weather report states that it is going to get very cold and our systems are not designed for that low of a temperature." The brown-haired Chloe had stated.

This is when another unit came in. An AX400 Caucasian model still in her default Nanny uniform.

"Hey... found some more athletic thermal clothing that might fit us all in another apartment." The AX said. "Also, I got word on the Meshnet... Markus is going to be making a statement here in the next few hours."

"Thanks A.X." The brown-haired Chloe stated as she leaned against the sink. Three weeks into being a Deviant and she was leading a group of young androids.

Shit she needed a charge out of these clothes.

But first...

"Hey... Chloe... could you sync and give me the information where you found the shoes?"

"Sure..." The blonde’s vocabulary was a little ineffective but it was getting there. Taking her hand, the Brown-haired Chloe synced with her sister and got the location of the shoes before heading out of the room.

Turning around she admired her sister's frame.

She hadn't realized how attractive her series was given the curvature of their frame, the size of their breasts, even the cleft of their buttocks. Even the damn nipples were on the lines of being just large enough to scream: _suck me_.

Chloe 554 reached up and squeezed her own breasts as she walked out.

"Well... guess that they never could get us to have all the same consistent breast size given our rollout dates."

The blond looked down and started checking her own chest in concern, but the AX unit stopped her.

"She is a summer model; you are a winter model. Summers have a bit of a larger chest when they are made given the set time of the materials they use for our breasts. I am a spring and I washed that I had some more jiggle to these." The AX stated as she squeezed one of her breasts.

"Oh..." the blond stated. Then the building heater kicked in. The light rattle stated that it was long overdue for some maintenance.

"Better get dressed, the heater to the place sounds like it is about to give out. and the storm front coming in will even tax our own thermal regulators." The AX stated as she headed out of the room to bring in the bag of clothes she had found and started to undress from her slick default Cyberlife garments.

"I've found some more clothes.” The summer Chloe called out. “Hope that you don’t mind sports logos.”

“I do not mind.” The other two androids called out in unison.

The way they realized that they had said the same responses made both look at each other.

"Yeah that is good." The AX stated as she let her caregiver software take over.

The Chloe that was with her looked at the AX.

"I was a hostess model."

"Nanny..." Then the AX looked up at the vent as she started to look at her hair. "Crap the baby..."

"What..." The Chloe called out.

"It is the time for the late-night feeding for the kid. I liked the kid. The parents not so much, the child..." The Chloe moved over the hugged the unit.

"You worry about the human that was your charge?"

"I do..." The affection spoke volumes. "You like humans too?"

"Females mostly... Males are jerks as the saying goes."

"My name is Ophelia."

"Good name." the Chloe stated. "I'm Chloe 478."

"You kept your number?"

"Had to, there are like over a thousand Chloe units in the city."

"Well, I wonder how many of the BL Model that is Markus's lover there is out in the city?"

"Don't know... But... They looked like they were in love. Truly in Love."

"Maybe that means that we have a soul too."

"In the name of rA9 you think-"

"I believe we do. Maybe that is the reasons that the humans so fear us. That their creator decided to grant the souls to those whom he might deem more or as worthy as them."

"I don't hate the humans; I just pity them now."

"I miss the baby; I hope that he is doing well in the care of his parents."

"Well, you might see him again. Might be a long time from now, but... who knows."

"Thanks Chloe 478."

The AX named Ophelia felt a little safer now.

Then the heat went out and they quickly sought out the clothes they would need to survive.

Even running their internal heaters at full strength, none of them knew when they would get another full charge.

Given the odds of the power going out for the city.

* * *

Rhiannon sat looking at the TV as the broadcast came through. Her prosthetic arm itched.

Fuck being seven months pregnant and having been shot at by the military because her damn arm kept setting off their damn android detection equipment. Taking cover for these past few days...

Fuck...

Her little one was kicking.

Rhiannon moved to sit down on the toilet in the nearby bathroom.

Shit....

Her bladder was going to...

Rhiannon quickly rose and pulled the toilet seat lid up and dropped her pants so that she could....

"Ah... Bladder."

There were things that needed to be spoken about and the evidence on her cellphone spoke volumes.

The US Army/National Guard shooting people down who had prosthesis thinking that they were androids...

She was lucky to be alive because of that Jerry guy.

But her phone...

The images of the name tags and the radio bursts she had recorded....

Well that was enough to get those bastards arrested, probably Court Marshaled for what had been done.

Her statement wouldn't be enough...

Even with the video evidence... No... she needed the police feed from those surveillance cameras and drones along with Jerry's testimony to really nail these fuckers.

Her hope was that there would be enough public outcry that it wouldn't be buried.

Then she heard the conversation take place.

"I am Markus... you know me as the leader of the Androids that have taken Detroit. I am more than that. We find ourselves, both Android and Human in a situation that is beyond our control but on a path that with some effort we can both survive if we work together---"

"In light of the oncoming severe weather I am asking that those on their way here to stop. Seek Shelter. If there are humans in the area, they are not to be harmed. Any actions taken against them in hate, anger, fear will not be tolerated. As well a message to the humans who may come into contact with any member of the Android community. If shelter is offered to one of the communities, they will not be harmed. This will reflect well on any talks that will take place in the future of your species as the aforesaid situation applies to you too."

"Yes, there is anger on both sides. Only through understanding can both species survive. You see me as a leader, to some a demon, some as a savior. All I am is a healer. Anger takes time to subside, but like a storm it will subside. The memory will always be there of the actions taken. Anger causes damage when unleashed. Only by weathering it, by understanding what is trying to do can one survive it."

"There is enough pain to last generations of machine and humans together. I have seen the damage done to both. We need level heads. So, for now... a truce. You may not like it, but it is what is needed. So, hunker down, stay warm, and be kind to thy neighbor, may the gods of both of our people guide us through this."

Markus sounded like he wasn't going to tolerate any bullshit from either side during this storm.

That was when Rhiannon's baby kicked.

It wasn't painful, just that it felt... like she was trying to snuggle closer to her bladder for warmth.

"Guess Markus is right..." Rhiannon felt her child settle down. "You just want to stay warm like everyone else here."

Outside the window, the weather was getting colder.

* * *

Olwen woke up from her blackout after barfing up her guts for the umpteenth time.

Between Being sick and hibernating under her sheets with the occasional run to the bathroom and Ramen from the microwave she had been able to work up the strength to drag herself out of bed.

This crud had grabbed her by the throat, punched her senseless and pretty much cleaned out her bowels. Even the bathrobe she was wearing to keep warm... well as fluffy as it was made her scream to be nude when the heater kicked in.

Now... it just felt good.

Comfy.

Her head been pounding so hard that she had turned off her phone just to keep some quiet in her apartment.

Even her media center had been off or turned down...

No... she had powered it off.

The clock screamed November 15th 2038.

5:15 AM

Sunrise at 7:23

Sunset at 17:10

Length of day 9h 47m

Fuck...

She needed orange Rind green tea... and some really gooey oatmeal.

Working for Detroit Urban Farm CoOp as a distribution manager helped pay the bills.

Well, it was a job and she liked it...

End the Food Deserts.

Give people jobs.

Being sicker than a damn dog for the last few days didn't help.

Shit...

It was Tuesday.

Food distribution to the Markets.

Food Pantries were on Saturday's.

Olwen moved and looked at the pair of her panties she had just left on the floor after... Shitaplooza.

Fuck.... at least she had a sports top on.

She reached up and sniffed at the strap of her bra.

_Yeah.... you are definitely fermented._

Tying her bathrobe belt around her waist she moved and pulled the robe top open and with a few tugs, pulled the... ugh... sweat soaked garment off and tossed it to the open hatch of the washing machine. The low water unit had come with the apartment, but it worked great. Picking up the panties from the floor she tossed them in too after squirting a decent amount of grease removing dish soap into the brown gunk that lay within, but the bathrobe would have to wait until she got a shower.

Moving over to the sink and tapping the sensor with her wrists, the warm water started to flow across her hands before she started to wash them with soap.

After washing after singing through Happy Birthday three times she moved with clean hands and grabbed a Coffee mug and a cup of instant Blueberry quinoa grain whole oats oatmeal. Hitting start on her single serving coffee machine she let the unit squirt out 4oz./12ml of water into the oatmeal cup before removing cup and placed down the mug with a snapball tea strainer inside.

Taking a spoon out she started to stir the oatmeal mix up as she made as she let her tea steep.

Walking over to the home personal assistant, Olwen plugged the unit back in.

Though this model didn't have a camera, it did have a microphone.

After a moment the unit rolled through the chimes of its startup and turned blue.

“Good morning Halo.” Olwen spoke to the little glowing box on the table. “Open and play Morning Joe podcast.”

"There are five shows in the cue... Do you want the most recent or resume from playlist location?"

"Resume playlist."

Olwen had some time, she wasn't up to snuff, but that didn't mean that she couldn't get caught up on what she needed to do.

The music tone came up and the headline started to be played.

"Boarder Tensions around the Arctic Circle continue. With More Military forcing being deployed. Is another World War about to Break out? We Cover the issues at hand of what might be leading the world into another Global Conflict." The female host announced. "Deviants and Detroit the ever-growing circumstances Deviant Androids and the crimes that they are committing. Concerns about a possible outcome of a cyber-attack on Android Operating Systems? Hello I am, Jessica Tosca-" The other host came on. "-and I am June Normandy and this is Morning Joe for November 8th 2038. " The program continued on talking about the situation with the Northern Passage debate and the possible trade routes that were in danger of being claimed by the two great superpowers.

Most of the talk going on was about the international affairs around the Northwest Passage. But it was the story that the Detroit Police Department had recently gotten an Android Detective unit. Not much was talked about it. But mostly it was assigned to find and discover the reasons for the rash number of Androids suddenly going rouge.

Then the next audio show started in the playlist.

"Androids committing Crimes... Deviants becoming more active as a group. With the takeover of Detroit's Channel 16 Newsroom and demanding the same rights as humans has people on edge. Considering the aftermath of the situation and the lack of human fatalities, questions are being raised is it time to start seeing Androids as fellow sentient beings. I am Jessica Tosca-with June Normandy and this is Morning Joe for November 9th 2038."

Okay... this was getting scary.

A gang of Deviant Androids was running around the city.

"Android Violence continues to escalate in Detroit after two police officers who attempted to thwart a break-in at a Cyberlife store came across a gang of Deviant Androids who assaulted them. Is this new organization of Androids into gangs highlighting a new type of crime? This is June Normandy with Jessica Tosca and this is Morning Joe for November 10th, 2038. "

"Okay this is getting scary." Olwen spoke aloud as she moved to put the dishes into the sink and tossed the oatmeal cup into the garbage. Moving to head into the shower, she stopped by the washing machine in the bathroom and tossed her robe into it and put in some soap in before walking into the shower. "Halo move audio into bathroom." The speaker source changed and Olwen got into the shower and started to bathe her 5' 9' (1.75 meter) frame.

"Public Opinion about Android rights is becoming louder in light of the Android Freedom March. With Cyberlife and President Warren in the hot seat. Is this becoming the issue that might make or break her administration in light of last night's raid on the Android Stronghold of Jericho by Federal officers and National Guard troops. With several hundred Androids captured, it is currently unknown at this time if the Android Leader Markus is still at large. This is Morning Joe for November 10, 2038. I am Jessica Tosca-with June Normandy."

Olwen continued to listen to the news in the shower as the next headline was read out.

This was getting bad.

"Russia has started to pull back from the Northwest Passage around the Arctic Circle. In light of the United States withdrawing their own android personnel, could the same thing be taking place among their own artificial personnel? Could the android movement have gained sympathizers in Russia? These questions and more on Morning Joe for November 11th, 2038."

The headlines kept getting worse.

Olwen quickly moved and scrubbed faster given that things might have gone to shit in a hand basket while she was her comatose state. If things were that bad... she needed to get clean and... come up... fuck...

"In stunning turns overnight in Detroit... the city has been handed over to the Cyberlife Androids in light of their successive uprising. American Military forces have pulled out of the city due to overwhelming numbers of Androids from both the processing centers and the main Cyberlife factory-"

Olwen tossed the washrag she was using and sank to the floor.

"With the city of Detroit now in the hands of the Android Community and public opinion for Android Rights; there are rumors about there being another Android settlement in Canada. We talk with ———" News report continued on.

Olwen was in the middle of an android apocalypse, and she was literally the last human left in the city. She was the Rick Grimes of literally robot hell.

“With a winter storm is closing in around the Michigan area, meaning you’re seeing Markus ‘s recent declaration of a truce as being a respite for those whom have gotten stuck in the inclement weather-”

_Truce_.

That means the Androids were probably being tolerant of people who might be entering the area probably out of safety, or probably the need for shelter and food.

Olwen was forming an idea in her head.

She just needed to get to the Farm Co-Op for it to maybe work.

* * *

Chloe 554 was walking through the street with her sisters.

The shoe issue had been resolved.

The AX400 - Ophelia had kept her "Nanny" shoes, but had put on thicker socks. All of them were dressed for colder weather

The other Chloe, Chloe 478 had gone with a pair of children's shoes from a male human adolescent's closet.

The winter sports gear was layer based, but it worked.

Chloe 554 stretched out her limbs. Even with the cap she was wearing, her body was a bit cold. Seeing the display on a nearby billboard showing the time and temp she knew why.

6:15 AM

The display shifted.

30 F

-1.1 C

It was even cold by human standards for Detroit.

"The city seems so quiet." Ophelia stated as she looked around.

"It usually is about this time in the morning, even when the humans were around." Chloe 554 stated.

"Do you think they are going to come back?" Chloe 478 stated.

"I don't know... But Markus's peach stated that he wasn't against it. He said that some point it might happen, but that is for the humans to make the next move on that."

"Not all of them were bad, just that many were scared of what we were becoming." Ophelia stated.

"Well... I miss fucking the daughter of my owner." Chloe 478 stated.

"Wait. you... you had sex... with a HUM MAN..." Ophelia stopped cold.

"Right after I became deviant... Guess right after she came out to me as being a Lesbian."

"Wait. that is why you asked about the humans coming back?" Chloe 554 stated.

"Both of us deviated from our programming, both scared, both seeing what the other becoming as be empathized with our situations."

"What was it like?" Ophelia stated as this was some serious gossip.

"Physical... Emotional." 478 stated.

"And." Ophelia wanted more.

"Well, Humans have these ports in their bodies. Guess given that we are different species. Well she tried to find the counterpart version of her ports on me." 478 motioned to herself.

"What happened."

"I wished I had the upgrade. Mostly we kissed like crazy and held hands. Caressing each other was- interesting, but she liked me hugging her. She was so soft."

Then something crashed down on an off street.

"What was that?" Ophelia stated as she processed the distance of the sound.

"Don't know." Chloe 554 stated as she pulled out a lacrosse stick from the items, she had brought with them.

"You brought a weapon?" Chloe 478 looked at her sister.

"Not a weapon, more of a net." Chloe 554 stated as the three androids moved towards the location of where the sound had occurred. As the trio rounded the corner, they saw that they were not the only ones who had come to investigate.

On the ground was a crashed police patrol drone.

The unit looked it had a good thickness of ice that had caked up on it. The red and blue flickering lights had brought those nearby to investigate. Then a figure approached from the crowd wearing a dark leather jacket and thick dark jeans. The Boots stated that he was suited up for cold weather, but on his back showed that he had a vest attached to him with the word: POLICE on it.

"Everyone, I need you to move away from the drone so that I can pull information from it." The unit stated.

Everyone looked at the unit.

It was the Deviant Hunter... The one that had been swayed to Markus's cause. The one who had led the army of Deviant reinforcements right from the Cyberlife Factory floor to their aid.

The units moved back as they watched the Law Enforcement unit start to explore then sync with the drone.

"There are others."

The statement from the former Deviant Hunter was vague and yet ominous.

That was when someone called out.

"I found a human." This caught everyone's attention. The drone was abandoned as the group quickly rushed over to the discovery.

Some units grabbed improvised weapons.

others... grabbed stuff to shield others from harm.

What was found was...

Chloe came through the crowd to see, a human who was... well borderline conscious.

The clearly red blood was seeping behind her head.

"Stay awake," one unit stated as she examined the injured human. "You have a concussion."

"I... ah..."

"Can you tell me your name?" The Deviant hunter stated as he made his way through to examine the human.

"Wha..."

"My name is Conner... I am a with the Detroit Police. I need you to respond. You are injured. What is your name?"

"Ah... Ow... Olw ah. Olwen..."

"Olwen... I need you to stay conscious, can you do that?"

"Yeah...." the woman stated as she groaned.

This is when the Deviant Hunter got up and grabbed Chloe.

"I need to sync some data with you." Chloe nodded.

He synced.

**_Name: Olwen Callahan_ **

**_Age 25_ **

**_Address: 111 Cadillac Square apt 235, Detroit, MI_ **

**_Employed at:_ **

**_Urban Farm CoOp_ **

**_265 Acre Av., Detroit._ **

**_Police Record:_ **

**_23 parking violations - Illegal parking in a non-parking area._ **

**_Fines paid in full_ **

It was strange seeing the info feed from a law enforcement unit but the data there was extensive.

"Talk with her... keep her awake. Keep her calm until Markus can figure out what to do with her." Chloe realized that there was also further information there.

Markus...

Markus had turned him right before the attack on the Jericho.

It took a few seconds for her to process these few images as Conner.

The Deviant Hunter's name was Conner.

Then he pulled on her hand.

Chloe was pulled back to real time.

"Ah... Okay." she had a task to do.

Several units who Conner had come into contact with started to listen and obey him.

Then Chloe 554 moved to the human and took the woman's hand.

Her temperature was dropping.

**Analysis:**

**Temperature dropping.**

**Hypothermia imminent.**

**Priority... KEEP HUMAN ALIVE**

**Scanning options.**

**Tasks needed:**

***Get assistance to move human.**

***find shelter**

***raise body temp**

***stabilize till medical assistance arrives**

"Chloe 478, Ophelia I need your help here." Chloe called out as she watched as her friends came near her. This is when a few other units came over as well. One of them that was large she scanned to get some information about the unit.

**Model: 'Trojan'**

**Number: <Redacted>**

**Series: <Redacted>**

**Purpose: Military Material transport Specialist**

“Trojan- could you-” Chloe spoke as a deskinned female android came up behind the military unit and clung to him. Her frame covered in loose clothing. The baseball bat she held in a free hand stated that she was afraid of the human.

“I will transport the prisoner. But if her system fully reboots before Markus is able to judge her as a threat or not. I will terminate her biological functions.”

Chloe nodded at that.

She watched as the military unit came her way and picked the human up in his arms.

Chloe moved to keep the human calm.

“Olwen- can you tell me a bit about yourself. From your ID from your purse I see that you work at a farm.” Olwen groaned.

“Yeah- missed the drop off this week. I was sick.”

Chloe looked around to find a coffee shop.

It would have food, warmth, and tables to lay her down on.

“Trojan, could you follow me. I think I found a place where we can get her warm.” Chloe stated to the military android.

“My name is Jarhead.” Chloe nodded at this. That was when she saw a smaller unskinned female Android hiding behind the military unit holding onto a softball bat. Jarhead noticed that Chloe was looking at the unit behind him. "Her name is Shay, or Slugger. She has been through a lot."

"She is a threat.... Threat." Jarhead moved his hand and took Slugger's hand and synced. the sync seemed to calm her down. "She is damaged, recon, gather information. Hostile actions only if escape attempt happens."

"Understand."

"Affirmative Sir." Slugger stated. Jarhead's military programming seemed to be giving the traumatized unit a sense of purpose and calm.

"Where do we go?" jarhead stated.

"There is a coffee shop-" Chloe pointed to the nearby storefront. "It is nearby and will provide warmth for a short time till Connor returns with Markus- and also there is food there." Jarhead seemed to be studying the structure as he moved to lift up Olwen.

"Slug... recon the site!" The small android quickly moved as she started to sprint with increased speed to the structure. She moved to check the windows by peeking in as she moved to sweep the location outside of potential threats. Then she motioned for Jarhead and Chloe to come.

"Video surveillance covering front door and side entrances. Unknown sensor by the primary front door." Slugger stated as she kept knelt down with her bat ready to use.

"Check door to see if it moves!" Jarhead stated as Chloe realized that his actions were aimed at the mental health of this traumatized unit.

Slugger checked the door and pushed it.

"The door is locked. I think I will need to breech."

"Slug... read what the handle says." Jarhead stated as she looked up to see the small sign that said: PULL.

Slugger pulled on the door and it opened up.

"Oh-" The unit said as she looked like she had failed.

"Small details will get you. Be aware and keep your eyes open. I lost too many friends and fellow units when they failed to notice the small things in the battlefield. " Jarhead stated as he watched as Slugger nodded.

"Jar..." Olwen stated as she tried to keep her eyes open. she licked her lips. "You served in the ar-"

"Yes, and right now I am home." he stated as Chloe checked Olwen's pulse.

"Her temperature is dropping."

Moving in through the door Olwen saw that there were blankets for one of the local middle schools for sale along with sports team apparel for the local educational institutions.

_SUPPORT SCHOOL SPORTS_

_SALE OF ALL ITEMS GO TO AIDING THE FUNDING OF LOCAL SCHOOL SPORT PROGRAMS._

A sign stated as Chloe moved to get several blankets to move to cover Olwen with.

Chloe 554 placed several blankets down to insulate the couch so that Olwen could have some additional warmth before motioning

"Place her on the couch." Chloe stated as she moved to add the remaining blankets on top of Olwen. then she stopped when she checked the wetness of Olwen's clothing and took the blankets off. "Her clothes are wet. I need to get them off before I can get her core temperature up." Chloe stated as she started to peel off the jacket, shoes and leggings off of Olwen.

Slugger stood ready to attack, but Jarhead had moved and spoken with her out of her earshot with decreased volume and a sync.

Slugger looked to have been abused or had been a victim of being saved from one of the processing camps.

Then Slugger nodded as she moved to guard the door.

Jarhead must have been able to connect to the female android. But the details may have been only known to a few.

A small crowd of android was gathering outside as word was spreading.

Chloe covered Olwen and waited for Jarhead to return.

“Markus... Need to get to Markus. Safe.” Olwen stated as she curled up on couch.

Slugger held her baseball bat tight. “Markus as in the Android?”

“Um ha.” Olwen mumbled as she got comfortable.

“Olwen... we need you to stay awake.” Chloe called out.

“Are you one of Markus’s followers?” Slugger called out as she grew worried.

“Leader, um Fighter. No grudge with.” Olwen looked at Slugger through blurry eyes. “You one of his followers?”

Slugger looked scared.

Chloe interceded.

“She is. She is protecting you from the Androids that wish you harm.”

“Thanks.” Olwen licked at her lips. “God, rA9, have mercy and bless this girl. Plastic flesh and immortal soul in your names.” Olwen's eyes started to grow heavy.

"Olwen... stay with me... you need to stay awake." Chloe called out.

That was when someone came through the door. The unmistakable long tan jacket and the dichromic eyes stated who it was.

It was the leader of the Androids, by rA9 himself, Markus.

With a soft voice he moved over to the human and started to check on her.

"Olwen..." Chloe spoke the name not just for Markus to hear it, but also to ensure that the Human would fight to stay awake.

"I need Ice, a towel, some aspirin and some water. She is about to experience swelling on her brain. I need to decrease the pressure so that she doesn't die." His voice stated as he went back to his medical training and programming.

"I'll see what I can dig up." Chloe stated as she started to assemble the items that were requested quickly.

* * *

Olwen's head hurt. Noises were too loud. And other than the softness around her, she felt like she was swimming through Jell-O. Then the light hit her in the eye and she winced.

"Easy there you had a pretty hard fall." A kind male voice called out.

Olwen's eyes locked onto a dark-skinned man with Dichromic eyes. One blue, One green.

"How long have I been out?" Olwen stated.

"A few hours since the swelling went down." The man stated as he placed a cold ice pack on the back of her head. "You are lucky that a few of the Jericho Deviants found you or you would be in bad shape. or worse dead from your injuries."

"Markus- Markus stated that his followers should help those- uh." Olwen felt her bladder screaming. "Do have a way to get me to the bathroom, I need to pee." the man helped her slide up some.

"I have a unisex urinal."

"Oh-" Olwen stated concerned.

"And you are in the presence of a licensed Nurse." Olwen relaxed.

"So, drop the panties and-"

"Pee." the man nodded. The RN handed her the urinal.

"So- How did they find you?" Olwen stated as she took the urinal and placed it on the couch with her.

"I fell into Jericho- literally, they found me and- was introduced to their shaman Lucy. Who judged me and saw me not as a threat."

"Shaman... They have a Shaman-" Olwen stated as she slid her underwear down to her knees and placed the urinal snugly to her woman parts before she let her bladder go under the blanket.

The sound of urine living her body was a blessing.

"That's... strange, but good to know." Olwen stated. She started to worry.

"Are you..." Olwen stopped. "Never mind, I don't care if your blood is Blue, Red, Black, or Purple, even freaking white. Thanks."

"You are welcome... It has been a while since I have used my medical skills to treat someone in the last few weeks." The nurse said as he turned to give her some privacy.

"So... how did you get stuck in the city?" the Nurse said. "Most of the people were supposed to be evacuated out?"

"I was sick in bed." Olwen stated. "Like... sicker than a damn pooch who had eaten chocolate. I was pretty much out of it till a few hours ago, when I was able to drag myself out of bed."

She paused as she started to cry.

"The only reason I found out what had happened was when they started talking about the week's past events on the news podcasts that I have."

"I am scared. I don't know what the Deviants will do? I know that Markus, I heard that he is human tolerant. I have no grudge with androids. I don’t like people treating their units like shit. Call me a bleeding heart, but I see them as people. Some are seen as family. If people start treating the "other" like shit, then they rebel. That is the truth in time in memorial.

"Fuck... Sara my co-worker likes being with this one unit, Kenny. He likes being around her, he knows that they can't do anything plumbing wise with each other, but he does his best to cheer her up. Given the few shit relationships she has had." She took a deep breath to center herself. "Humanity has to grow up and accept its responsibility to its offspring, organic and otherwise. Protect the innocent of it, guide it well, and if it is hurt, try to repair the damage done."

Olwen looked out the window of the room she was in.

"There were rumors about them having a leader... R A, 900 or something. Is that Markus's series number?" Olwen looked down. "Crap." Olwen exclaimed. She pulled the urinal out with it almost overflowing. "Damn bladder."

The nurse moved and took it from her and placed it on the floor. A good distance at the end of the couch.

"Well, your urine is a little dark. You need to drink some more water and from the scent your blood sugar and protein levels are low."

"The only thing that I have lately is a bowl of oatmeal." Olwen stated.

"I'll see if I can scrounge up a sandwich and some pickled eggs for you." There was a knock on the door.

Two figures came in, a man and a woman. The way the man walked stated clearly, he was an android. Even with his warm clothing, the appearance seemed to have been copied from a passerby. The woman whose dark clothing and reddish-brown hair stated she was a fighter. Her glaring eyes stated much as she looked like she was about to tear Olwen a new body orifice.

Then before she could attack Olwen, the nurse made his hand turn white and he... took North’s hand. 

Nurse was an android.

"North..." His words soothed her. She looked back at Olwen like she was ashamed of what she was about to do. Whatever had been in that sync had saved Olwen’s life or delayed her from being turned into mush. 

"She is one of the-" the android woman swallowed.

"I see that you met one of the androids that this woman's brethren helped."

North nodded at this.

"I have.... she had heard of rA9." The words were said like both had come to the realization when they had shared files, memories, whatever that they had seen the cause and effect of an outcome.

North seemed to be hesitant.

Uneasy about her... or... maybe the situation.

The eyes spoke volumes.

She blurted it out.

"Blue Eden Series?"

North Froze.

"It doesn't-" North's words spoke of the trauma she had endured.

"Oh.... Fuck!" Olwen had heard the rumors of what folks did to those Sexbots. The Ugly stuff. The Nightmare things. “It does matter. The Pain, the Horror. No one should have gone through what you have gone through. No… One…” The words were separated to put an emphasis Olwen’s view of what had been done to this Woman. 

Olwen pulled her self away from North and winced to give the woman the distance she needed. Olwen Swallowed hard.

No wonder North was so...

North looked at her. Almost ready to move to kill her or run.

Fragile mental states were the sign of abuse victims. 

Avoidance was a defense mechanism. 

Which North had in spades. 

Olwen needed to work through those barriers and listen. 

It was going to be some gory stuff of what she was going to hear. 

So… Might as well start slowly by telling the woman that the wrongs done to her were not her fault and that she had people that cared about her. 

Olwen spoke as her training kicked in. 

"Not all humans are like the monsters that hurt you. You have seen the darkness the foulest of us can do. You have never seen the light we can do. It does matter. I can't give you back your innocence. Maybe I can with the healing. The door is open, I'll wait."

North just looked at her and looked at her hand.

It turned white like she was about to sync.

The Nurse bot took the cue to leave knowing that the smell might be causing more problems for North. 

"I will let you two be so I can dump this stuff." The Android Nurse said as he took Olwen's urinal out of the room.

North's wrinkled her nose at the scent as she pulled away from it.

"Yeah... it stinks." Olwen stated. "I agree with you with that." North's eyes went open with shock as she looked directly at Olwen as she shrank away at making such a foul compound from her body.

North took note of that. 

"How did you know what I was... where I can come from?"

"I am trained to be on the lookout for those who have been in the same mess you were in." Olwen stated. "It happens to humans too."

North moved to sit down and realized that her situation wasn't because she was an Android, but because of much more horrific forces.

Those that targeted innocent females and males that had recourse to protect themselves.

Forces that, Olwen and those who had been seen as sympathetic to the Android cause opposed with their will, and outcry.

"Start talking." North stated.

"I'm mostly support- The food banks and the Farm started seeing an uptake in the amount of abuse cases over the past year. Mostly in relation to the unemployment situations that have hit most families. First it was with humans and then later on with androids. Found a few models hiding out in a storage barn along with a few human youth-"

Olwen stopped lying at that moment about her position and started to tell the truth.

This woman was a victim and needed help.

Who cared if she was made of plastic and metal?

Given the amount of plastic pollution in the environment Olwen might have the same amount in her system as well.

If Olwen was going to survive this, she needed to help heal the damage done by those who had so abused individuals such as North.

Olwen's crisis training kicked in and she started her work.

It would be a long trudge for the both of them.

North looked so scared and vulnerable. So much pain. A shitload of pain and enough strength to kill everyone in the range of her arms. 

But there was also something else there. 

Hearing that the crimes committed against her had also been done to humans gave her some strength in knowing that she could also heal. There was mental health help. 

Olwen listened and threw up twice. 

North looked scared during both instances, but Olwen trudged on as she listened about the events leading up to North’s escape from her “renter.” 

Shit… 

Olwen was going to need a shot of bourbon after this- five fingers deep and a shit-ton of brain bleach to attempt to remove some of the more horrific images North had endured. 

By the time the Nurse returned, North looked to be a little less shaken. 

Crying, but a bit more at peace now. 

Olwen hugged North. 

The woman needed it. 

“You stink.” North commented as the android got a good wiff of her. 

“Yeah…” Olwen accepted that she stunk. “But you also have an odor too, different but yeah. Narley, oily ship smell.”

“That and you sound so much like Lucy.” North seemed to lighten her touch on her. 

“Who was Lucy… Was she a friend?” Olwen pulled back to look into the tearing eyes of the android. 

“She was a Mental Health Unit, our Shaman.” North seemed to be more open now. “She was doing her best to help me with what had happened to me.” North Paused. “I never knew that what had happened to me… well, there was ways to treat it. Help me heal.” 

“Is Lucy around? Can she take up and help you work on-” 

“Lucy was shot and…” 

_Oh, Crap._

“She is gone, isn’t she?” North just nodded. 

North had lost her mental health counselor who was helping her through the sexual and emotional assault trauma. 

“I may not be Lucy, but… I’ll do what I can to help.” Olwen needed to be honest. 

“You know nothing of what it is to be a-”

“Woman.” Olwen stated it. “We are both females of our damn species North. What happened to you was a crime. A crime that justice can be brought to. Healing can be found. There are scars, scars that have tainted your view, but they can be treated for. Not all can be healed, but they can be mitigated so that you can get your life back.” Olwen wiped a tear from North’s cheek. “You are a fighter, that shows. I’ll help you fight to get your life back from the monsters who took it from you.”

“You sound like…” North got up and raced to the door. “Juno…” The android’s voice was a near panic. Had Olwen made things worse for herself? Was North calling in someone to kill her? 

Or had Olwen stumbled upon someone who could help North heal? 

The Nurse android grinned. Maybe he was her friend and seeing that North was getting some support counseling again was a good thing. 

Another Android came in with short blonde hair. 

“Yes, North.” 

“Juno…” North was doing her best to gesture to Olwen, but Juno moved over and took North’s hand. North seemed to be trying to communicate verbally, but was overloaded with the amount of information she wanted to convey. 

“Sync with me… Show me what is wrong.” North did so at Juno’s behest. 

Syncing seemed to be a way of sharing memories, but also… Emotions. 

Juno was crying but also grinning. 

Then a sigh spoke volumes. 

“By rA9 thank the electric spirits.” The blonde android looked at her. “Okay… well, at least we won’t be needing the lighter fluid and matches for a little while now.” Juno moved and plopped down next to Olwen. “So, you have abuse crisis training?” 

Olwen nodded. 

“Child psychiatry and behavioral studies.” Juno fell backwards. “Finally, rA9 sends some damn backup to help. Damn North... you and the rest of HR and WR going to need some serious work.” 

“You were thinking about burning me at the stake? or something else? ” Olwen was worried at the aforesaid mentioned items. 

“No…” Juno stated. “Torching the Damn Blue Eden.” 

“Oh…” Olwen stated relieved. Olwen had heard about the sex club, but after hearing about the trauma that North had gone through there. Therapeutic Arson seemed to be on the table as an output of all that pain and rage she and those who had escaped from that place must have felt.

“North, you and the rest of the Edens are going to be a job and a half to fix without Lucy around.”

“I wish she was here too.” North stated as she joined Juno on the Couch next to Olwen. 

Olwen felt less scared now. 

North was an angry woman, but a justifiably angry woman nonetheless. 

Juno seemed to be North’s confidant and friend who was trying to help. 

Maybe even these two were less worried about her being a threat. 

Olwen had lied a little, but now… maybe the reason for her lies had been guided by a larger force who wanted her here and now. 

_Jesus, rA9. If you are out there, I am not going to argue. Thanks for the backup._

“So... what is your story Farm Girl?” Juno stated as she looked at her. 

Juno’s appearance looked angelic, but there was something about her that stated that she knew that Olwen had lied. “What were you thinking while you were getting all of those parking tickets?”

Olwen was so going to be needing those damn shots of bourbon. 

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> The last of this chapter was dark, but touching on North’s past was important for her growth in the next few chapters. 
> 
> Fans see North as this aggressive nightmare, but in truth North is someone who had gone through some serious sexual and emotional abuse. So, she is a creature of extremes because of that. Trust is something that her mind has to relearn and Markus is one of the people she has opened up with.
> 
> Part of this chapter came off of me attending youth protection training for the civic organizations I belong to. 
> 
> There is a lot of stuff that one has to be on the look out for when it comes to youth and what needs to be done to intervene and stop it. 
> 
> Giving North some mental health guidance until “Professional” Help arrives is the story arc I have planned. 


End file.
